Like, Love and Don't Like

This week, I like being rewarded for surveys. Companies are always interested in our feedback, aren’t they? If you’re like me, you’re constantly being invited to participate in a survey by following a code at the bottom of a receipt, found in an email or posted on a website. Survey invitations these days contain messages about big cash prizes followed by a plethora of fine-print legalese that probably releases the surveyor from having to pay. Ugh…and the questions are so boring. Imagine my surprise when I was recently asked to provide my input on luxury cars. I participated with the survey with a mentality of ‘a boy can dream, can’t he?’ This made the process more enjoyable. It turned out that the survey was specifically about Cadillac and for my effort, I was given a $5 credit to a host of charities and retailers – right there on the spot. Getting a $5 credit to Amazon right then and there meant a lot more than being eligible for a $1,000 monthly drawing.

This week, I love the thought of being a Minimalist. Our 7-month old son, Graham, has a swing, activity mat and several ‘toys’ that occupy space in our living room. What will it be like when he’s older? As I pondered these material needs that are sure to grow, adopting the Minimalist lifestyle doesn’t sound like such a bad idea. But I don’t think my wife would allow our family to rid ourselves of all unneeded possessions. Despite these 28 great reasons to become a minimalist, I would probably miss our television during football season.

This week, I don’t like my bad (phone) luck. I’ve been having some bad luck with my phone and each issue has contributed to another problem. It all started a few weeks ago when I was trying to do a good thing and clean my phone’s case. I removed the phone from my case and began to wash the case in warm soapy water. But the water got too hot and I melted the adhesive that held the case’s backing in place. The damage wasn’t repairable so I chunked the case in the garbage and vowed to order a replacement. Well, that vow went unmet for a few weeks. I had actually forgotten about that vow until one morning when I bent over to pick up my paper out of the driveway. My phone slid out of my shirt pocket and did an impressive dance on the concrete. One corner of my screen was completely shattered and there was a nice crack running the entire length of the phone, but everything still worked. Julie knew how badly I felt and my sweet wife found a nearby store that specializes in screen repairs. The screen was replaced and the phone looks as good as new. I’ve even got a new case. I’m not sure that my problems are over though. Since the repair has been made, my phone’s ability to carry a signal while in my house has dropped to almost nothing. It’s about as good as it ever was in my office building and other parts of town so I’m hoping that it’s just an issue with the cell tower closest to our house.

UPDATE: I took my phone back to the place that repaired the screen and explained the issue with the poor reception.  Behind closed doors and in less than five minutes, a full signal had been restored.  They said they failed to connect a wire to the antenna properly when replacing the screen.  Everything is back to normal!